1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to baseball gloves integrally provided with wrist support portions. More particularly, the invention relates to a support portion, attached to a conventional baseball glove, which not only supports the user's wrist, but also operatively cooperates with portions of the user's hand, wrist and forearm.
The terminology "baseball glove" as employed herein is intended to connote any of a variety of conventional baseball gloves or mitts comprising front and back walls joined together at upper and side portions thereof and defining at the lower portions thereof a hand insertion opening. Typically, such baseballs gloves have the front and back walls thereof joined together to define a thumb portion separate from a fingers portion, with an intermediate bridge or pocket portion connected between the thumb and fingers portions. Such baseball gloves or mitts typically conform to various professional baseball standards for size, pockets, adjustments and padding.
2. Description of Relevant Art
One of the major problems attendant conventional baseball gloves is the lack of support of one of the most vulnerable parts of the baseball player's body, his or her wrist. The wrist is particularly vulnerable due to the added weight of the baseball glove itself; and also due to the force of a ball caught in the glove, which is often sufficient to cause the hand to bend backwards sharply at the wrist. When subjected to this sudden stress, the wrist is highly susceptible to spraining or other injury. At the same time, the player is quite likely to lose the ball he is attempting to catch.
Another problem attendant conventional baseball gloves relates to control. The unnatural heaviness and thick padding of the glove on the player's hand can often lead to an awkward unwieldiness of the gloved hand during play. There has thus developed a desideratum for a glove construction or attachment which is capable of making the rather heavy and sometimes unwieldy glove a more integral part of the user's catching arm, wrist and hand movements.
The present invention fulfills such disideratum by providing not only a firm support against backward bending of the hand about the user's wrist, but also enhanced control capabilities enabling the user's gloved hand to become a more natural part of the movements of the catching arm.